Most employees engaged in workplace

Fifty-seven percent of employees are moderately or highly engaged in the workplace, up from 47 percent in 2011, according to a survey by Temkin Group, a market research and consulting firm.

This helps improve productivity as engaged employees are more than twice as likely to stay late at work, help a colleague even when not asked and take action on behalf of the company even if it's not expected, the survey finds. Engaged employees are also three times as likely to suggest improvements and more than six times as likely to recommend a friend or relative apply for a job.

Additionally, three-quarters of respondents working for employers with significantly above-average financial performance are moderately or highly engaged as opposed to less than half of respondents working for employers with poor financial results.

"It may not show up on any balance sheet, but a highly engaged work force is one of the most valuable assets that an organization can possess," says Bruce Temkin, customer experience transformist and managing partner of Temkin Group.

The survey also finds that professional services and construction companies report the highest level of employee engagement, and travel and retail firms record the lowest. Among companies with 100 or fewer employees, 60 percent of respondents are moderately or highly engaged while this is true among 46 percent of respondents at companies with 10,000 or more employees.

Of senior executives, 75 percent are moderately or highly engaged, and only 46 percent of individual contributors are equally engaged. Typically, the most engaged employees are African-American males with college education.

The parent company of United Airlines and Continental Airlines said Wednesday that Continental has reached a labor agreement with representatives of some 7,200 non-union employees who work as reservation agents and in other passenger-service roles.